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Principality of Fürstenberg

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County (Principality) of Fürstenberg
Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Fürstenberg (German)
1250–1806
Coat of arms of Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg territories in 1806
Status Principality
Capital Fürstenberg
Common languages Alemannic
Historical era Middle Ages
Early modern period
• Egino IV of Urach inherited Zähringen 1218
• County established 1250
• Partitioned into Fürstenberg and Wolfach 1408
• Mediatized 1806
Preceded by
Succeeded by
House of Zähringen
Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg-Wolfach

Fürstenberg was a county (German: Grafschaft), and later a principality (Fürstentum), of the Holy Roman Empire in Swabia, which was located in present-day southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its ruling family was the House of Fürstenberg.

History

The county emerged when Egino IV, Count of Urach by marriage, inherited large parts of the Duchy of Zähringen upon the death of Duke Berthold V in 1218, and it was originally called the county of Freiburg. Egino's grandson, Count Henry, started naming himself after his residence at Fürstenberg Castle around 1250.

The county was partitioned in 1284 between itself and the lower county of Villingen, and then again in 1408 between Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg and Fürstenberg-Wolfach.

Over the centuries, the various rulers expanded their territories to include the Landgraviate of Baar, the County of Heiligenberg, the Lordships of Gundelfingen, Hausen, Höwen, and Meßkirch, and the Landgraviate of Stühlingen in Germany, as well as domains around Křivoklát Castle (German: Pürglitz), Bohemia, Tavíkovice (German: Taikowitz) in Moravia and Weitra in Austria.

In 1664, Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was raised to a principality and received a vote at the Reichstag. In 1744, various Fürstenberg territories were reunified to the Principality of Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg, as all lines except one had become extinct.

The Rheinbundakte of 1806 dissolved the state of Fürstenberg. Most of its territory was given to Baden, and smaller parts were given to Württemberg, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Bavaria.

Geography

As of 1789, the territory consisted of five larger, isolated parts as well as several smaller exclaves. The five larger parts were:

The smaller exclaves included the towns of Ennabeuren, Salmendingen, Neufra, Trochtelfingen, Hayingen, and others.

As of 1806, Fürstenberg had an area of 2,000 km2 and a population of 100,000. Its capital was Donaueschingen.

Rulers of Fürstenberg

(Note: The analysis given here will go further back to the origins of the Counts of Urach/Freiburg, from which the Fürstenbergs descended in direct line, and with which shared the coats of arms and still exchanged property in the 13th century. After the fall of the main Freiburg line in 1458, the Fürstenberg branch (separated in 1236) emerged as the main line of the dynasty.)

Partitions of Urach, Freiburg and Fürstenberg under Urach/Fürstenberg rule

County
of Urach
(1040-1218) 		Rule by the House of Zahringen
(1098-1218)
Raised to:
County
of Freiburg
(1218-1385)
County of
Badenweiler
(1st creation)[1]
(1271-1320) 		County of
Fürstenberg
(1236-1614)[2] 		County of
Haslach[3]
(1284-1386)
Annexed to
the House of
Habsburg 		County of
Badenweiler
(2nd creation,
Freiburg line)[4]
(1385-1458)
County of
Wolfach
(1408-1490)
County of
Geisingen
(1441-1483)
Annexed to the
House of Baden
County of
Heiligenberg
(1559-1664)[5]
Raised to:
Principality of
Fürstenberg
(1664-1716)
County of
Möhringen
(1599-1641)
County of
Messkirch
(1614-1716)
Raised to:
Principality
of Messkirch
(1716-1744)
County of
Stühlingen
(1614-1716)
Principality of
Fürstenberg[6]
(1716-1804)
(Stühlingen line)[7]
County of
Weitra[8]
(1744-1806)
Principality
of Pürglitz
(1762-1806)
(mediatisation in 1806 divided
between Württemberg, Baden
and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) 		(mediatised
to Austria
in 1806)

Post-1806 lines of succession

Mediatized line of Weitra

  • Joachim Egon (Ruling until 1806; non-ruling 1806–1828)
  • Frederick Egon (1828–1856)
  • John Nepomuk Joachim Egon (1856–1879)
  • Eduard Egon (1879–1932)

Weitra line extinct, possessions fell back to Prince Maximilian Egon II as head of the House of Fürstenberg.

Mediatized line of Taikowitz

  • Friedrich Joseph Maximilian Augustus (1759-1814; Ruling until 1806, non-ruling 1806-1814)
    • Joseph Friedrich Franz de Paula Vincenz (1777-1840; 1814-1840)
    • Friedrich Michael Johann Joseph (1793-1866; 1840-1866), the last landgrave of this line and official guardian of Bertha von Suttner

Mediatized line of Pürglitz

  • Karl Egon II, 5th Prince 1806-1854 (1796-1854)
    • Karl Egon III, 6th Prince 1854-1892 (1820-1892)
    • Prince Maximilian Egon I of Furstenberg-Pürglitz (1822-1873)
      • Maximilian Egon II, 8th Prince 1896-1941 (1863-1941)
        • Karl Egon V, 9th Prince 1941-1973 (1891-1973), also Landgrave of Fürstenberg-Weitra
        • Prince Maximilian Egon of Fürstenberg (1896-1959)
          • Joachim Egon, 10th Prince 1973-2002 (1923-2002)
            • Heinrich, 11th Prince 2002-2024 (1950-2024)
              • Christian, Prince of Fürstenberg 12th Prince 2024–present (born 1977)
              • Prince Antonius of Fürstenberg (born 1985)
            • Prince Karl Egon of Fürstenberg (born 1953)
            • Prince Johannes of Fürstenberg-Weitra (born 1958), adopted by Karl Egon V and inherited the Landgraviate of Fürstenberg-Weitra in 1973
              • Prince Vincenz of Fürstenberg-Weitra (born 1985)
              • Prince Ludwig of Fürstenberg-Weitra (born 1997)
              • Prince Johann Christian of Fürstenberg-Weitra (born 1999)
          • Prince Friedrich Maximilian of Fürstenberg (1926-1969)
            • Prince Maximilian of Fürstenberg (born 1962)
              • Prince Friedrich Götz of Fürstenberg (born 1995)

References

  1. Back to citation After the death of the two heiresses of Badenweiler (which had divided their father's inheritance between them) in c.1320, Hausach went directly to Fürstenberg, while Badenweiler was inherited by Strassberg family, and only joined Fürstenberg patrimony in 1364.
  2. Back to citation Sometimes called Fürstenberg-Baar from 1441, and Fürstenberg-Blumberg from 1559.
  3. Back to citation Also called County of Dillingen. The form Haslach was used to avoid confusion with the Hupolding Counts of Dillingen, parent house of the more known Swiss Kyburg family.
  4. Back to citation With the loss, by the main line, of the domains of Freiburg in 1368, the Counts of Fürstenberg compensated them with the returning of the county of Badenweiler, which they held until its sell in 1444. This main line also inherited, in 1395, the county of Neuchâtel, which ended up being the only possession they kept until extinction in 1458.
  5. Back to citation A short-lived branch with capital at Donaueschingen separated from Heiligenberg in 1617, and ruled until 1698, when it rejoined Heiligenberg.
  6. Back to citation Sometimes called Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg
  7. Back to citation In 1716, after annexing Heiligenberg, Stühlingen inherited the princely title and re-adapted it to Prince of Fürstenberg, establishing themselves as the inheritors of the main Fürstenberg land.
  8. Back to citation In 1744, the Prince of Stühlingen, Joseph William Ernest, reunited the lands from Heiligenberg at a new capital at Weitra, and gave them to his younger brother Louis August. After the latter's death, a younger son created a short-lived branch at Taikowitz, which, like its parent lands, was also mediatized in 1806.
  9. Back to citation He apparently wasn't counted as Count of Freiburg, despite inheriting the land. The first count Egon of Freiburg would be his son.
  10. Back to citation Egon was associated with both his numerals: V in Urach, and I in Freiburg.
  11. Back to citation Annales Sancti Trudperti 1237, MGH SS XVII, p. 294.
  12. Back to citation occurrence 12.0 Back to citation occurrence 12.1 Back to citation occurrence 12.2 Egon VIII, in 1618, numbered himself as Egon VIII. There were only two previous effective rulers in Fürstenberg of that name: Egon, Count of Haslach (d.1324), and Egon, Count of Geisingen (d.1483). This possibly means that this Egon VIII numbered himself after, not only after these two previous rulers, but counting as well the whole line of counts of Urach and Freiburg until Henry I of Furstenberg: the last Freiburg count to rule in Fürstenberg itself, Egon II the Younger (d.1237) was also alternatively numbered Egon V as Count of Urach. Therefore, if Egon of Haslach and Egon of Geisingen were numbered respectively as Egon VI and Egon VII, then the counting for Egon VIII would be justified. Here the numberings for the Egons of Fürstenberg are in brackets as a proposal of sequential numbering.
  13. Back to citation Despite inheriting a part of Haslach at Trimberg, this Henry is not numbered to not mess with the established sequential counting for the Henrys.
  14. Back to citation Sometimes numbered Henry VIII.
  15. Back to citation occurrence 15.0 Back to citation occurrence 15.1 Between Frederick I (d.1367) and Frederick, count who acceded in 1509, no other Frederick held a countship in the family. However, the count Frederick who ruled 1509-59 is sometimes erroneously numbered Frederick III. Some sources correct his numbering for Frederick II. Consequently, the count Frederick who ascended in Heiligenberg in 1598, sometimes with no attributed numbering, is given the number Frederick IV, which is corrected to Frederick III.
  16. Back to citation Sometimes numbered Henry X.
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